Smiles and cheers are all around as the entire island of Conomi celebrates finally free from Arlong's tyranny. A big party was starting up in Cocoyashi Village with music, food, and the whole shebang.
Elsewhere in Cocoyashi, Nojiko sits on the bench with Bellemere, both drowning in a mug of alcohol. You were enjoying watching the view on the rooftop with some sake, smiling.
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Meanwhile, the navigator is quite far from the village on the same cliff overlooking the ocean with a genuine smile on her face.
Genzo looks after the girl from behind.
"Why're you still here, Nami??" Nojiko came up and asked.
"Your friends are looking for you. (First Name) kept asking if you were alright, saying that she still apologized for that stunt she did" Bellemere added.
Nami looked over her shoulder. Her smile grew as she faced her loved ones before she looked back out to sea. "Hey, Bellemere. What are your thoughts about me becoming a pirate??"
"A PIRATE?!" Genzo roared. "Of course, Bellemere's not gonna let her precious daughter go out to sea with a bunch of treacherous pirates!!"
"I'd let you" Bellemere stated with a smirk.
"Bellemere!!"
"But even if I said no, I don't think that would stop you, would it??"
Nami stuck out her tongue in response. "That's right. Nope"
Nojiko snickered while Genzo was left speechless at the young girl's response.
"I see" He accepted and burst out laughing. "They're your kids, Bellemere. No doubt about it" he patted her shoulder before walking off. "Nami, you've already made up your mind about this. There's no use fighting it. Live your life. I can tell it's what Bellemere wants for you as well"
After he left, Nojiko leaned in and nudged Nami with her elbow. "So, tell us about you and (First Name)" she snickered.
Nami's face went bright red at the mention of the certain Fishwoman(?). Bellemere noticed it and wiggled her eyebrows. "Oh ho. Looks like my daughter finally found someone she likes. I'm so proud of you"
"I-it's not what it looks like!!" Nami waved her hands in a panic but Nojiko and Bellemere didn't buy it. They started teasing Nami about her little crush.
"Ne Namikan. So this is where you are"
The three of them turned around to see you walking towards them with a bottle of sake in hand. They assume you're drunk but you're not. You sat beside them on the cliff, watching the sea.
You decided to break the silence. "So you decided to join the Straw hats, huh?? How ironic. You decided to join them even though you hated pirates"
"T-that was back then. It's different now" Nami replied. You giggled and Nami's blush became a bit darker. "That's true. We'll be sailing to the Grand Line. We might see each other again from time to time cuz I'm a solo pirate. A thief" You drank your sake.
You got up and patted Nami's head before you walked back to the village. "Who knows? Maybe I might steal something from you without knowing. Maybe your heart" you grinned. This took Nami aback as her face was now like a tomato. Nojiko and Bellemere snickered and teased her for it.
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Meanwhile, somewhere at the Navy Headquarters. A marine delivers a Transponder Snail to the Fleet Admiral who was coincidentally in a meeting with his three admirals and a well-known Vice Admiral. A knock on the door interrupted the meeting.
"Come in"
"Sorry to interrupt your meeting, Fleet Admiral, but there's an important call for you" The marine explained while holding the Transponder Snail.
"Hm?? Did they say who it's from??"
"No, sir. Just that the call had to go straight to you"
"Very well. I'll take it from here. You're dismissed" Sengoku waved off the marine.
"Sir!!" The marine saluted before he exited.
"What do ya think this is about, Sengoku??"
"No point in sitting around and wasting time making speculations" Sengoku picked up the transceiver. "This is Fleet Admiral Sengoku"
The eyes of the Transponder Snail lower to shadow its eyes mimicking the shrouded face of whoever was on the other line. "Greetings, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. It's been a while since our last meeting hasn't it??"
Every Marine in the room now has their eyes glued to the Transponder Snail with a familiar woman's voice speaking through it.
A few moments of silence went by before the Fleet Admiral resumed speaking. "Miss Arsene. To what do we owe this call??"
"'We'?? Am I interrupting your meeting?? I apologize for that. As much as I want to let you finish the meeting first however I needed to get this over with" The Voice then turned from polite to serious.
"I thought I told you that if I find a single speck of corruption from you marines, I will not hesitate to root them out, didn't I?? Why am I seeing this information I found that the Marine in charge of the branch closest to Conomi Island had been taking bribes from the Fishman Arlong in exchange for looking the other way at the heinous crimes he did against the locals. Care to explain??"
"Pirate scum!! You lie!!" Akainu roared.
"Don't underestimate my information network, Akainu but would you rather have the word of the former Marine then??" That shut the Admiral quickly. "*Sigh* Believe me all you want. I'll hand over the evidence and testimonies of the locals to the Headquarters soon. I just want you to give the people of Conomi the protection they rightfully deserve. They have been under Arlong's rule for 8 long years so things might be busy for you"
The Marines were not particularly surprised about the pirate's requests.
"I'll leave the punishment for your subordinates to you. See you at the next Shichibukai meeting, Sengoku"
As the pirate hung up, the Transponder Snail fell asleep.
Sengoku slumped in his chair, physically and mentally exhausted just from talking to this woman.
"Another one??" Garp asked.
"Yes. She's not like the other pirates, that's for certain. A clever and sly one of that but a pirate is still a pirate"
Moreover, she's the only pirate who speaks to the Marines with manners, unlike the others. But who knows what's going on underneath that mask. . .
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It's been 3 days of partying non-stop and now the entire village was up to see the Straw hats off.
You gripped Luffy's shoulder tightly from behind and he flinched, knowing why you were doing this.
"Luffy . . ." your eyes were shadowed by your hat. "Were you the one who destroyed my ship with a cannonball??" your voice is calm yet intimidating.
Luffy shakily and hesitantly turned to face you who is looking with an intimidating face.
Luffy shrieked in horror and tried to run for his life but your grip was too strong for him. "(F-First Name)!! I'm sorry about your ship!! Please don't make me a dummy for your training again!!" Luffy begged.
"Hah? Do you think that a simple sorry can fix my problem?? It's time to knock some sense into you"
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!! I'M SORRY!!" Luffy shouted in fear as you dragged him to the deck of the ship.
The other crewmates shivered at the dark aura surrounding you. They now knew not to mess with you or incur your wrath.
After Nami rejoined the rest of her crew with the villagers' cash, the Going Merry set sail. Now the journey back to the Grand Line awaits . . .